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Friday, February 27, 2009

First up is Dillard's. They have reduced permanent markdowns an additional 40% for the weekend. This is huge!!!!! This is where I get the kids clothes for next year and look for some eBay deals as well. Here's an example:

Infant Levi's onesie = $14.00

Clearance 75% off = $3.50

Additional 40% off = $2.52

Basically, you'll pay $15 for every $100 worth of stuff. :)

I do believe this sale is for all Dillard's stores since I got an e-mail from Dillard's "corporate office". Just, to be sure if you're not in the Dallas area, give your store a call first. Or shop online at Dillard's.Com.

Next up is Goodwill, yes Goodwill. My absolute favorite store for treasure hunting. I find tons of designer labels here (Janie & Jack, Ralph Lauren, Coogi, Burberry, Wedgewood, Pottery Barn, etc...), but you have to enjoy the hunt. These items don't just jump into my cart. Anyway, Saturday the 28th of February, they are having a 50% sale on clothes, shoes, & belts. I will warn you though....try to not take kids & people who don't like to shop. The store will be crowded and carts will be scarce. As far as I know, this is for the Dallas area Goodwill stores only. It's a winter clearance sale, so call you local store and see if they are participating tomorrow.

After getting 2 more booklets of Kroger coupons on Wednesday, I figured I needed to make a Kroger trip. I hope you received coupons in the mail as well!! Pictured is what I purchased and I'll cover some highlights.

Also, Kroger peanut butter is $1.29 everyday and is also really good! I got some last week and we love it. Peter Pan was on sale this week, but I have no coupon. :(

I used the last of my $.50/1 Cottonelle coupons last week. All I have now are $.50/2. Cottonelle is $1.19 each, after doubling the coupon and taking off the $.25 Cellfire eCoupon = $.56 each. Okay, so they weren't dirt cheap like usual, but I'll take it!

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Yesterday I staged this trip to Walgreens around the need for Q-Tips and the desire for some peanuts. I'll break this one down a bit differently than I usually do, so you can see how each item impacts the total.

I've submitted the Walgreens Easy Saver rebate for the Walgreens drink $4.00, Zucol $7.99 and Wags contact solution $1.99 which comes to $13.98 plus the 10% bonus (by having it loaded to gift card and not taking a rebate check) and that comes to a $15.37 rebate. $15.37 back - $15.18 spent = $.19 profit on the trip.

Let's all give a shout for that $.19 profit!!! :) I also saved $16.39 on this trip.

"Known also as Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras, National Pancake Day dates back several centuries to when the English prepped for fasting during Lent. Strict rules prohibited the eating of all dairy products during Lent, so pancakes were made to use up the supply of eggs, milk, butter and other dairy products…hence the name Pancake Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday."

Celebrate tomorrow, February 24th with a free short stack of pancakes at IHOP! Click here for more info or to find an IHOP near you. :)

I'll have to give HeatherMama credit for this one!! Restaurants.Com is having another sale. This one lasts until February 28th. Here's how it works: Normally at Restaurants.Com you can go in and purchase a $25 Gift Card for $10, but right now they are having an 80% off sale, and I mean to say that is 80% off the $10 price! Enter in the promo code DINE at checkout and you'll pay only $2. So a $50 dining out gift card will cost you $4 or a $100 meal will only cost $8....WOW!

This would make the perfect gift!! Stock up now while they are on sale since the gift cards are good for a year. Be sure to read each restaurants policy as far as tip and alcohol regarding the gift card. Just click the banner below and type in your zip code to see what restaurants are participating in your area.

- $10.00 for a CVS survey last month, I was paid with ECB here.- $3.24 was deposited into PayPal from BigCrumbs.- $25.00 Target gift card was received from MyPoints. Send me an e-mail at wyliemom@live.com if you'd like 250 bonus points for signing up!!- $20.00 check received from a confidential panel that hubby and I are on.- $3.69 check from Kellogg's Smart Start rebate.

Weekly Impact - $324.12Year To Date - $1,916.32

The weekly amount grossed up is $432.16. Divided by 40 hours a week and I "made" $10.80 an hour. You can read about my "grossing up" and my 2009 goals here. The YTD amount grossed up is $2,555.09.

To keep the ball rolling, I listed 22 new eBay items, requested samples, took a few surveys and continued to clip and organize my coupons. I also made a few calls and made some adjustments to our monthly bills. I'm not going to track in on my "weekly tracking", but I'm saving us $60 a month. That's $720 a year! Overall, I would say last week was a good week.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

The free shipping offer at Puritan's Pride ends tomorrow, Sunday the 22nd. Not only do they have a B1G1 Free sale, but they are also running B2G3 Free sale, plus FREE shipping.

For example, the Pre-Vites (100 count) pictured here are $7.29. So, if you buy one at $7.29 you'll get a total 2 bottles plus FREE shipping. Buy 2 at $14.58 and you'll get a total of 5 bottles and FREE shipping! $14.58 for 500 multi-vitamins breaks down to $2.91 a bottle or $.02 a vitamin....What a deal!!

Click the link below to check out Puritans' Pride for yourself! :)

P.S. Here's how I look at free shipping: I save gas and get a free eBay box!

Often times, when monthly accounts are set up, we tend to forget about them. Please don't!! There is money waiting to be saved right now with your monthly bills! Here's what I did yesterday to save us $60 a month ($720 a year):

1. I called our paper and changed our subscription. We were receiving the paper Thursday through Sunday, but I began to notice that the only one that was really getting read was the Sunday edition. Not to mention all the fabulous coupons and circulars, haha. So, I called and changed our delivery service to Sunday only. That will be $9.50 a month, saving me $11.00 a month.

2. I called our quarterly pest service and canceled. Hmmm..... We'll see how this one goes long term, but for now I'm saving $36 a month. When we moved in, it was a new build (read: lots of spiders) but that was 6 years ago. Wish me luck on this one, I HATE spiders!

3. I called Verizon to cancel HBO and Cinemax. This one is a longer story. About 6 months ago I called to cancel the HBO. Yada, yada, yada, I "updated" our phone/TV/Internet package (saved about $40) and added Cinemax for free. About 2 months ago I start seeing a charge for $21.99 for the movie package. I guess they were both free for only 3 months. Hubby does love movies and we really liked that HBO and Cinemax had on demand movies, but $21.99 is crazy!

We decided to cancel both and get Netflix. I read about Netflix in the February Consumer Reports. They are rated #1 for video rental methods. Redbox was #2 (yay!). Now, we love Redbox don't get me wrong, but the selection is small and it's $1 day. Even if we jump on the free Monday rental, that's a lot of pressure to watch one free movie a week. And, sometimes hubby's schedule doesn't even allow him to enjoy it with us.

A bit about Netflix, they have several levels of membership to choose from:

$4.99-One movie at a time, maximum 2 per month and 2 hours of online movie watching.

$8.99-One movie at a time, as many as you want per month, unlimited online movie watching.

$13.99-Up to two movies at a time, as many as you want per month, unlimited online movie watching.

$16.99-Up to three movies at a time, as many per month as you want, unlimited online movie watching.

We choose the $8.99 package. It seems like the biggest bang for the buck. After considering the $21.99 I'm saving but the $8.99 I'm now spending, this move will save me another $13 a month. After talking to my mom who also has Netflix, this really seems to be a great decision. She said since the distribution center is so close to us (Coppell for you DFW folks), you can almost average 2 movies a week. Netflix has no late fees and postage is "free" or included in your pricing I should say.

So, yesterday I spent about 30 minutes messing around with all of this and we will now save $60 a month ($11 paper, $36 pest, $13 HBO/Cinemax). Be sure to review your monthly bills and decide if you are really getting your money's worth from services. Ask yourself, "Is this adding value to our lives?", and start making adjustments!

Click below to check out Netflix, I think $8.99 is a great value! Movies are a great stress relief for hubby. We never actually go to the theater (it's such a waste of money!!), so the only way we see new movies is through rentals. Netflix has over 100,000 titles.....think you can find one you like?

Friday, February 20, 2009

There seems to be a lot of fun samples this week!! Samples are very fun. You can try a new product, "save" some money (that's one day of "free" shampoo let's say) and they usually include a generous coupon.

You can check out new samples daily at Shop4Freebies. Click the banner below to check them out. They have a very "clean" site (I mean it's nice to look at, not a lot of blinky banners or personal chit chat), be sure to look at the tabs on the side and not just the main page for samples.

If you haven't done so already, be sure to subscribe to my blog. It's over on the left. You can receive updates in your e-mail box or in your favorite reader. I use Google reader. You can also "follow me" and see my latest posts when you sign into Blogger.

It had been 12 days since I grocery shopped!! I never got my circulars last week, and well, what can I say I'm a bit lazy. I was in desperate of need of a few odds and ends, not to mention I had a $3.50 catalina expiring today. Here's what all I got for $41.63...

I purchase 8 pouches of StarKist Tuna (on sale $1.00 each) and received a $1.00 Catalina that doesn't expire until May 14, 2009!! I used (8) $1.00 coupons from the paper and VocalPoint so the Tuna was FREE.

Ocean Spray $2.00 - $1.00 newspaper coupon = $1.00

Planters Peanuts $2.00, hubby eats peanuts like crazy!

I even went a little crazy and paid for a gallon of sweet tea ($1.19) and picked up more popcorn since it was on sale for $1.00 and I had a $.50/2 coupon that doubled. Popcorn is a great snack and we even use it as a lunch "side" instead of chips.

I only got a small amount fruit since I'm going to try to make it to Sprout's tomorrow or Saturday. On this trip to Kroger, I saved $52.24 and earned $73 in Kroger Fuel Rewards. After the surprise $1 catalina that spit out, the trip was $40.63 "total" OOP.

Puritan's Pride is having a vitamin sale. It's B1G1 free....plus now through the 22nd (Sunday) they are also offering FREE shipping as well. No code to enter, just click the link below to check it out. My mom (and Grandma and Aunt...) has been ordering from Puritan's Pride for as long as I can remember and really likes their vitamins and supplements.

I really needed to jump back into the CVS/Extra Care Buck game and had 2 transactions all planned out for this morning. They revolved around my need for Pull-Ups that are on sale today for $8.99 a pack. Anyway, once we walked in the kids were jumping around yelling to use the magic coupon machine. What popped out???? My $10 in ECB for the survey I did last month and a $5/$30 CVS coupon. I ran back out to the car to re-work my deal (with my loud kids!!). I'm quite impressed with myself:

I paid with my $10 ECB "earnings" but she had to adjust it down to $9.79, leaving me some tax to pay.

Total OOP = $.58

I'll get a $.75 rebate from The Caregivers Marketplace for the Huggies Pull-Ups, so my cash profit is $.17 (wow!). I received $6.99 in ECB, so my overall "profit" on this trip is $7.16. Three cheers for the coupon binder!! :)

- $30.71 at Walgreens- $1.00 for free Monday rental at Redbox- $7.99 at VistaPrint- $39 at Old Navy, I went to 2 Old Navy's on Saturday and used a total of four $5 Valentine's coupons (2 kids x 2 stores = 4 coupons/transactions) and I only spent $14 total on two new outfits.

Don't forget to print your Pert Plus For Men rebate. It's for up to $3.99 and doesn't expire until 12/31/09.

Last, but not least, I signed up for Kraft First. It's a word of mouth marketing campaign. A lot like, VocalPoint from P&G, Pssst from General Mills and SheSpeaks. Basically, you'll be the first to know about and try some new products, give your opinions, etc.....read: free samples and coupons. Yay!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

This is a cheap and easy craft that could be customized for any holiday or occasion! Here's what the kids and I did:

1. Gather some "marketing" magnets. You know the ones, they are on phone books and handed out at fairs, etc.

2. Paint the magnets with acrylic paint. Two or three coats will be needed, depending on the paint color and the design you are covering up.

3. Print of some cute photos or pictures. I just printed some pictures of the kids on regular paper in a wallet size. Then I cut out pictures with pinking shears.

4. Glue pictures onto magnets.

5. Add cute foam Valentine's hearts around pictures.

6. Ta-da!!!!!

I ended up with 5 large magnets and some small ones that the kids have been playing with. We kept one large one for us and mailed the other 4 off to grandparents.

I spent a total of $5.27 at Hobby Lobby. I got one new shade of pink (I didn't really NEED it, since I had paint here) and 2 bags of foam hearts. I still have enough hearts for the kids to play with today. I thought we could cut out some hearts and make more valentines. Anyway, one bag of hearts was on sale and on the other I used a Hobby Lobby coupon.

Isn't this a cute "card", that won't be thrown away? This could be done for all kinds of occassions: birthdays, reunions, Halloween, baby showers, okay you get the idea. It's cheap, easy and oh-so cute! :)

I saved $30.10 over both transactions. Also, just so you know, I usually do my transactions at different stores. I used a total of $11.93 of my gift card balance and I submitted the Windex and Fructis Wonder Waves Easy Saver Rebates. That will give me $6.59 back on my Walgreens card, and that amount includes the 10% bonus for having it loaded back to the card. So, overall on my card I have "spent/lost" $5.34. But wait!!!!! You know there is more! I also have submitted the Ensure mfg. rebate for another $6.99 (cash) back.....total trip profit = $1.65.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Vista Print frequently has lots of fun things for "free". Click here to take a peek. Now the product is free, but there is still shipping to pay (read : where they make their money).

Here's what I did. I got an e-mail from InBox Dollars saying if I ordered some free stuff from VistaPrint, I'd get a $5 bonus. So, I got the cute notepad pictured and personalized it for my daughter. I paid $4.67 for shipping. But, I'll get $5 back from InBox Dollars. That's an overall profit of $.33.

Here's the deal. I can't find the deal on the InBox Dollars offers page, but they e-mailed it to me 4 days ago and again yesterday. Plus, the link I put in above, takes you to the InBox Dollars/VistaPrint sale page.

Bottom line.....it pays to read what most people see as junk mail. I made $.33 (okay that's not huge) and have a FREE personalized birthday gift on the way for my daughter. Yay!

P.S. Update (2-14-09)-I just checked my InBox Dollars account and the $5 is there, so it's official. I got a free personalized note pad and made a tiny cash profit.

I just got this one in my inbox, thanks to MyPoints. Just remember to print and toss this in your coupon book. I keep this kind of coupon in a photo "brag book" in my purse. Not valid on Valentine's Day, but it doesn't expire until March 1st.

Don't forget to sign up for the Friday's Recognition Program while you're visiting their website (and printing the coupon), you'll get a free appitizer and a "skip to the front of the line" pass for signing up.

Interested in MyPoints? Send me an e-mail at wyliemom@live.com and I'll send you a referral link for 250 bonus points!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

There are a few pages of offers to look through from Eversave.com before you can print the menu. But, there is a skip button on each page. Offers include things like Betty Crocker newsletters, InBox Dollars, etc. So, take a quick peek. I've just printed the menu off....sounds yummy! Not having to plan a Valentine's menu is an added bonus! :)

Yes, Swagbucks is for real! Here's my first reward. I chose a $5 Starbucks gift card. It took me roughly 2 weeks to earn it. I'm already half way to another, but I'm saving for a "bigger" prize this time.

I earned this simply by doing my "Google" searches through Swagbucks. Easy!! Click the banner to check it out, while I enjoy a free coffee....

Monday, February 9, 2009

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Each week I am summarizing how my week went as far as making money (eBay, rebates, surveys, panels, etc) and saving money (coupons & sales). I then "gross up" that number with my own personal Wylie Mom Math, just to see how it looks compared to working outside of the home. You can read about my grossing up and my 2009 goals here. So, here are the results for week 6.

eBay Sales - $ 284.15 (Yay!) but I relisted $ 15.24 worth of sales due to 2 non-paying bidders. So, I will say $268.91 in sales for the week.

Misc. Income, detailed below - $30.00

- Hubby brought me a $20 Target GC that he earned somehow at work. :)- $8.00 Orajel rebate- $2.00 from Dollar Surveys was deposited into my PayPal account. I've recieved $5 so far and have only invested about 30-45 minutes of so over the past 2 weeks, so I'll say so far thumbs up for Dollar Surveys. Click the tiny banner to check it out.

Weekly Impact - $407.33Yearly Impact - $1,391.65

My weekly amount "grossed up" is $543.10. That breaks out to $13.57 over 40 hours if I was working outside the home. And remember....no day care costs either! Since I have never paid them (family watched my kiddos when I did work outside the home), I have never added it to any of my figures. But, it may have a huge impact on your numbers if you are thinking of staying home or going back to work. Just something to think about! :)

Moving forward, I listed 22 new items on eBay, earned points reading e-mails from MyPoints and Inbox Dollars, Walgreens loaded $29.67 to my gift card (Yay!) and I received and requested FREE samples. I found a new sample site this week....click here to check it out.

I visited ev'reward and typed in Kohl's and quickly learned that BigCrumbs was paying the highest % back. So, I saved $8.19 on my purchase, and got FREE shipping (saved time and money/gas), and I'll get a small rebate from BigCrumbs as well. All in about 5 minutes. I takes me longer than that to load the kids in the car!

I saved $42.43 on this trip to Kroger. I spent $10.12 OOP and got back a $3.50 catalina or "oyno". Read my Kroger catalina post here. So, using my "Wylie Mom Math", that makes this a $6.62 trip to the store. :)

I got the Clorox, Kid Essentials, and Fiber One Bars for FREE!!! The Dial should have been free, but the coupon didn't multiple at all. Darn it, if I didn't have to pay $.54 for hand soap! Haha.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Live in the North Dallas area and love cruising thrift stores for treasures??? You're in luck! There are 3 stores having a 50% off sale. The sale includes "most" of the stock...about 75% of the store is included in the sale.

You doesn't love FREE money?? Here's a chance to make $25 for opening a savings account. Just open an ING Direct Orange Savings Account with $250 and you'll get a $25 bonus!

Here are a few details:

-High Interest, No Fees, No Minimums - Everyone earns the same high interest. And no one pays a fee.-No Changing Banks - It electronically links to your current checking account. Transfers are free and easy.-FDIC Insured - Your deposits are FDIC–insured up to $250,000 per depositor.

I've had my savings account at ING Direct for about 6 years now and love it! It's so convenient and the rate really is good! We made lots of money in interest when we were doing our own escrow account. :)

There in no minimum balance to maintain....BUT you do need to open it with $250 for the $25 bonus.

Sign up HERE and use Reference Code-CK929/hfbvgzdfg to receive your $25 bonus.

P.S. $25 Bonus will be available for withdrawal 30 days after it's deposited (it earns interest right away!!). Offer valid until April 30, 2009. Hurry!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Be sure to visit Coupons.com for the newest coupons. The $.50 Cottonelle coupon is back! Take it to a Kroger that doubles coupons and you have yourself a $.19 pack of TP.

Some of my other favorites are the $1.00 off Fiber One (cereal, bars, yougurt, muffin mix, etc), $.50 off Betty Crocker Cookie mix (sometimes = free cookie mix if you catch it on sale!) and the $.35 Toaster Strudel coupon (looking to triple this coupon with a sale).

Wylie, Texas Resources

Cash/Points For Reading eMails, Surveys & Shopping

Rebates For Online Shopping

About Me

I'm a married, stay-at-home mom to two kiddos in grade school. I love to save money as much as I like to make it! Coupons, thrift stores? Lead the way!
But wait....there's more! I have a BBA from University of Oklahoma and I was a banker and an accountant before I became a domestic goddess!

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